Erle Levey
It was a warm and hearty gathering at Mary Valley Rattler’s Rusty Rails Cafe for the most recent Slow Food Noosa breakfast.
The quality of food produced in the Gympie-Noosa region was there to taste and the morning brought together farmers, producers and those interested in the movement’s philosophy of good, healthy and fair food for all.
As well as the networking opportunities to learn about food that has been produced in a sustainable manner, it provided the chance for those delegates sponsored by Slow Food Noosa to attend the Terra Madre Salone del Gusto international festival in Italy this year to share their hopes and aspirations.
Slow Food Noosa delegates for 2024 are Beth O’Leary of Woombye Cheese, Tania Wiesmayr-Freeman of The Fermentier, Josh Smallwood of Noosa Cartel and delegate leader Di Seels of Sunshine Beach State School.
Enthusiastic local farmers and producers who have been awarded Slow Food Snail of Approval status for their approach to production were also in attendance to share their products and explain how they farm or educate with slow food principles.
Bryant Ussher from Eastwell Farms at Kin Kin, Rebecca Dart of Big Bamboo at Eumundi, Nicola Cleaver of Amrita Park Meadery and Dee Young of The Noosa Forager enjoyed sharing their journey with interested attendees.
The aim of the breakfast was to promote Slow Food in the Gympie region and it provided a way to encourage producers in the Mary Valley, at Woolooga and Kilkivan, the Cooloola region and Gympie as well as Noosa hinterland to be supported in their efforts to produce healthy food.
And it highlighted the benefits to the community supporting local farmers and producers.
The breakfast acknowledged the new menu at the Rusty Rails Cafe that includes local food from Rainbow Beach to Kilkivan.
Slow Food is also encouraging restaurants and outlets to name the items on menus so that producers can be recognised and the region can become even better known as a destination by food-lovers from far and wide.
Sending delegates to Italy has been a key objective of Slow Food Noosa for many years.
Celebrity chef Matt Golinski is a firm advocate of this interchange with Italy to put products in front of a world-wide audience and to bring back ideas that can better enhance the way our producers, restaurants and retailers manage food production, manufacturing and supply.
Delegate leader Di Seels is co-ordinator of the Slow Food Noosa Snail Kids program, and is attached to Sunshine Beach State Primary School.
Di will facilitate three Slow Food Noosa Snail Kids workshops with Tania Wiesmayr-Freeman and Beth O’Leary in Turin about the inspirational and forward-looking program.
Snail Kids was developed by Slow Food Noosa to encourage school children to learn about their life in nature and the benefits of good food – where it comes from, how it is presented, how it is enjoyed.
Slow Food Noosa is among the early adopters of the program and one of 15 such initiatives around the world.
The biennial Terra Madre festival in Turin is a celebration of the Slow Food movement world wide, with delegates attending from more than 150 countries.
It is expected that more than 500,000 people will pass through the gates over five days from September 26-30.
Presentations by Slow Food Noosa delegates will be made at both the international education core group, and in a workshop session that will include making fermented foods and discussion on cheese-making.
Di Seels also will be pursuing collaborative research opportunities between the University of the Sunshine Coast and University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy.
Slow Food Noosa is Australia’s largest Slow Food convivium with strong community support. It is home to a thriving artisan food industry supported by local farms and food manufacturers.
Australia has a groundswell of people interested in Good, Clean and Fair food which is produced sustainably and protects our biodiversity.
This is a powerful message to be taking to Turin.
Noosa, Gympie and the Sunshine Coast are now officially the only locations in the world where three UNESCO Biosphere Reserves sit side-by-side, with a commitment to living sustainably.
These are the Great Sandy Straits, Noosa, and Sunshine Coast. Together they form an uninterrupted biosphere corridor across the Sunshine Coast region.
EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION
Slow Food Noosa delegates to Terra Madre intend to bring back knowledge gained at the five-day international festival as well as provide information about Australia – the Noosa and Gympie regions in particular.
As a delegate, Beth O’Leary from Woombye Cheese Company sees the chance to benefit from the experience of being able to meet with cheese manufacturers from one of the most dynamic areas in Italy.
While Woombye Cheese has been established for 10 years, Beth and husband Simon only took over in 2022 and have reinvigorated the business.
“With many small cheesemakers closing, we are keen to help keep this industry vibrant through having fun with cheese, education and sharing all aspects of our business,” Beth said.
“Cheese is an inherently slow food, due to the time it takes to make. It’s a food that brings people together for a shared experience and it’s made by hand, using locally sourced products.
“It’s such an emotive food and that’s what I love to share when people visit.”
In the day-to-day running of her business, Beth endeavours to be sustainable in a number of ways – recycling their waste product, particularly whey.
They source milk from local farms, make a true handmade artisan product while adhering to traditional methods, and create opportunities for staff and acknowledge their achievements.
One way Woombye Cheese seeks to be more sustainable and involved further with community is through a collaboration with White’s IGA supermarkets to use their unwanted fruit and veges and convert it into the ash for Woombye Ash Brie.
“We’ve become very entrenched in our business and I understand how vital it is to taste and experience what others do in order to find ways to be better.
“We have a long way to go with cheese in Australia and I can imagine a trip like this might help with understanding how to consolidate and push this industry forward.
“While Slow Food is being about good, clean and fair, I think we need to speak to the ‘romantic’ side of it too – the coming together and sharing conversation over a meal made using local produce.
“This is more important than ever in our disconnected world. It’s so restorative and many of us are missing out on this basic experience.”
For Tania Wiesmayr-Freeman, the Slow Food International conference in Italy this September will not only be about learning from fellow world-wide delegates but passing on knowledge gained over the past 25 years as a dietitian.
Tania and husband Andrew own and operate The Fermentier, making gourmet raw fermented food and drinks to enhance gut and overall health. They utilise traditional manufacturing methods and use raw natural ingredients and real cultures.
Whether at their retail outlet, Slow Food events or at schools, Tania promotes general discussions about fermented foods and home preserves.
Having been a clinical dietitian working in hospitals, in private practice, and universities for more than 25 years, Tania has been promoting healthy eating to enhance life, reduce disease and to promote longevity. Integral to this, is encouraging people to eat whole foods, to cook meals and to eat less highly processed and fast foods. Through this she encourages people to eat together, cook together, and be mindful when eating.
Attending Terra Madre would be a life-changing event for Tania who feels so excited at the prospect of being able to associated with so many other small-scale businesses where the owners are so proud of what they do.
“It will be great to see the other artisans who are taking pride in perfecting their work and seeing how communities support them.
“I want to experience the Italian way of life that supports small food manufacturers.
“I love the idea of having the opportunity of seeing how a community can embody Slow Food.
“After attending Terra Madre I would like to spend an extra week in the area exploring the lifestyle and Slow Food producers.
“Having heard and taught about the health benefits of the Mediterranean lifestyle, I look forward to the lived experience of it – the food system of markets visited frequently by mothers and restaurants to purchase fresh fish, processed meats, cheese, fresh local produce, and baked goods.
“Then there are the customs of visiting the farms to purchase their milk/ dairy etc.
“It will be interesting to ponder the reduced food miles, minimised packaging and plastics, community relationships and the feeling of belonging.’’
For Di Seels, the Gympie breakfast was a chance to share her personal story of the 2022 journey to Turin as well as an outline of the Snail Kids program.
Di is working to have this inspirational program included in the school curriculum so that students understand where food comes from.
This year as the lead delegate, Di will get the chance to have the Snail Kids program presented at Terra Madre which will be a big endorsement of the program.
“I think we’re getting traction on this,” Di said. “We are making connections with a lot of countries now to get it into the education system.”
As for Turin, Di describes it as a wonderful, vibrant city, full of history, bustling streets, small electric cars, bikes, scooters, terrific coffee, and artistic / political graffiti.
“It’s a city full of beautiful traditions, and wonderful food, created masterfully from centuries of generational knowledge.
“A city with an open food market, in the heart of town, like nothing I had experienced before – stalls stretching block after block, open all day, every day, providing locals and tourists, like me, with the most delightful array of fresh, locally produced food.
“This is food produced by farmers with a level of consciousness towards good, clean and fair and a sensitivity to environment and biodiversity.
“The experience of getting to eat this tremendous variety of fresh food was life-changing.
“While out walking there would be amazing coffee shops, one after the other, with everyone relaxed.
“It was an experience you felt and it’s difficult to describe – an overwhelming appreciation of different cultures, crafted food, activism, networks, workshops and being introduced to people with such a high level of connectedness, knowledge and a genuine level of sensitivity in defending food cultures, the environment and global biodiversity.”
Slow Food Noosa is looking forward to hearing and sharing the adventures of delegates after they return in late September, early October.
